Other past winners include English director Peter Brook, and American directors Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.

With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer.

He helped revive interest in ballroom dancing on both sides of the Atlantic.

The actor, 82, said he started to have problems with his prostate while on the mend from a knee injury.

An arrest warrant was issued for Margera, 43, and police said they were looking for him.